Page 91 of Only Between Us

“I never had a death wish until I met you.”

She coughs out a startled laugh. “What?”

“I have had this recurring dream since we met, where I have my face buried between your tits and just… pass away. So happy, straight to heaven. And then I wake up, actually sorry to be alive because it means it never happened.”

Her whole body shudders with laughter, completely missing that I amvery muchserious about wanting to die this way. “I think they call that a nightmare.”

“Nightmare, wet dream, who cares.”

She taps my forehead right between my eyebrows. “Sounds empty in there today.”

“It’s not. It’s full to the brim. Pictures of the other night on repeat. How perfect and beautiful you looked fucking that toy for me.”

Not even a hint of a flush in her cheeks, my shamelessly horny girl. “I liked doing it for you.”

“I like you.”

Her mouth stretches playfully. “Makes sense.”

“Yeah?”

“I’d like me, too.”

“You’d be crazy not to.” With the bright sky above her like this,there’s a pale halo of light framing her head. “Tell me something you like about me.”

Her eyes are all amusement. “Fishing for compliments, Attwood?”

I am, blatantly.

I’m falling for her so fucking fast, and I’m desperate for a real sign that she’s falling with me.

Damn my oversensitive heart; I need her to tell me that my ex had been wrong. That there’s something inside me worth liking, sticking around for besides my career. Maybe even worth loving, one day.

“Come on. There must be something you like about me. I like plenty about you.”

She rubs her lips together. “Like what?”

We really are the same, me and her. Hiding behind confidence, with the same innate need to feel wanted. To know that she’s worth loving, being cared for, after the way she grew up and got left behind.

I lift my chin, run my mouth along her jaw just once. So fucking smooth.

“What are you doing?” She’s holding her breath, and her mouth is a sliver of space from mine.

“I’m telling you how bad I want to lick down the cute slope of your nose. How that sweet line you get between your eyebrows when you think makes me want to stack the densest books in front of you, just to watch you focus for hours.”

That line between her eyebrows appears, and I can’t help a smile.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and what’s truly frightening is that your looks aren’t the even the most extraordinary part about you. Your strength is. The way you’ve gone through more than most people do in a lifetime, and came out of it resilient. Caring. Loving life.” I pause. “Or maybe it’s the way you’re so fiercely loyal. The second I figured you out, I never once doubtedthat you were in my corner. Even when I hadn’t done anything to deserve it.”

Her lips form a perfect littleOshape of surprise.

“Now you go,” I nudge.

She averts her eyes, traces the tattoos over my chest. “I like these. How long did they take you to do?”

I work to swallow my disappointment. Still, it twists inside me, coiling around my heart. Making my throat ache. “About twenty hours over a few sessions.”

“And this?” She hesitates, then runs her finger along a bit of bare skin by the inside my elbow. “It’s a heart. Was it for your ex?”